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minerva

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Well Guys'
as promised a Pic of my new milling machine.
It arrived on a pallet yesterday and with the help of a couple of friends it was safely unpacked and lifted into place on to a suitably beefed up bench!
Today has been spent removing the statutory gunk/gunge and generally cleaning and lubricating, altogether a most satisfying days work.
Close inspection has revealed a well made substantial machine which at this stage I feel is adequate for my needs, having so said the Vice seems a little over the top (very heavy and solid!). Following advice from members I purchased at the same time a set of ER32 collets + chuck which will also fit my lathe and I intend to augment this collet system with specific MT3 collets to fit cutters already in my tool-box (Imperial sizes).
I have yet to bolt the machine down and wish to experiment to find the best place.
I only have one question mark at this stage.
The manual is of course traditional "Chinglish" and has no reference whatsoever to the operation of the fitted quill DRO. Its operation appears fairly straight forward, but the quill fine feed dial calibration which is marked .05mm/division does not concur with the DRO readout.
I haven't actually cut any chips yet so roll on tomorrow!
would welcome any thoughts on the DRO situation (do they need calibration?)
TIA
TerryT

mill1.JPG
 
nice new toy mate i think the quill DRO is something very simple and not unlike your standard digital verniers so i dont think you can change or fix settings that being said i really think its more accurate than the fine feed dial if you are worried about it then dial indicator on it and move the quill down say 5mm on to the dial and see if there is any variation in the DRO or the feed dial
 
Nice mill Terry. Is that the new Grizzly G0704 offering or something similar? Machine weight about 250 lbs? Have fun with it.

Cheers,
Phil
 
Hi, NG/phil
I am just about to go and have a "play" so I will explore the dials and let you know how I get on.
Phil, the machine was obtained from a UK source, it is badged as can be seen on the pic an AMA25V (AMADEAL of leytonstone being the supplier) and I am afraid as I am unfamiliar with the Grizzly range I can't comment as to the manufacturer ,I suspect it may be "Real Bull" machine as the Finish/presentation is very similar to my lathe The weight is certainly in the right area! It took three of us to struggle/lift it from the pallet to the bench top with only one near- heart stopping moment, when I thought we had lost control over it, but hey-ho we managed!
Regards
Terry
 
Terry,
It appears to be this mill/drill that Grizzly has just introduced in the USA.

g0704_det3.jpg


They don't have them in stock yet but it seems a good size between the Sieg X2's and X3's. I'll be interested in how you like it and any performance issues. Please keep us posted. Thanks,

Phil
 
Well Phil,
I have had a couple of days to play with my new machine, and I must say I am impressed
the spec is as you suggested marginally up on the X3 in some respects and down on others but the results I have achieved have been impressive. Apart from having a problem with knowing how tight is "tight " with regards to the collets (coming from a routing background, I am only too aware how you can overtighten router collets) the machine is a joy to use. My first project was to make a start on a tee slotted "mezzanine " for the topslide of my Mini-lathe. I have had the lump of cast iron for a while now and I have taken the plunge, (photo's to follow) only time will tell how we go!
Regards
Terry
 
cant wait for photos great to hear your happy with your new machine and are getting good practice with it i think its a good size machine not to big but not to small
 
Hi all,
as promised some pictures of my first milling project carried out on the new machine, I am well satisfied!!

I wasn't sure as whether it would be acceptable to post this here as a build project, or whether to resubmit elsewhere,(perhaps someone can advise?)

So for now the promised pictures :-

they are of "The lump" (cast iron) having the "T" slots cut,
the finished unit (suitably surface ground at college)
and finally the unit fitted to the lathe.
I have other pics. and it wouldn't be too difficult to write up as a project if any mini lathe owners are interested. My original motivation was the difficulty I experienced with conventional parting off. and I hope this might overcome these problems once I have manufactured a suitable tool-holder
Regards
TerryT
 
well the pics didn't seem to appear so i'll try again!

P4270367.JPG


P4300373.JPG


P4300376.JPG
 
Terry,
That's a very nice extension table for the C2.

As for the appropriateness, it's your shop thread, you can post what you want.

It is suggested, however, that if you propose a build log that it be done in either Works In Progess for engines, Tools for tool builds and Machine Modifications for mods.

Don't worry, if something is not in the "correct" place we'll move it, no extra charge ;D
 
Thanks for the update Terry. Looks like it's going to work very well in your shop

Cheers,
Phil
 
nice first project and you have access to a surface grinder they are so handy i can see your going to be making loads more great stuff i cant wait :bow:
 
Hi Terry
Congrats on your new mill, pleased your happy with it, it also looks very
similar to the Warco WM18 which is also variable speed.
I am hoping to get up to the Harrogate gate show this year, where
Warco have a stand there with theses mills on show. I am also thinking
of puchasing one of these mills,so any more pro's and con's you can
give would be a great help.
BTW nice bit of maching on the mod for you lathe, you have done a
first class job there. Looking forward to seeing some of your projects.

Cheers
Ken
 
Hi All,
thanks for the comments and advice Kevin,
I must admit Bogs that I also had some misgivings as to the amount of meat available on the cross slide but in sheer ignorance (wonderful what it does to ones confidence!) went ahead anyway, I used M5 bolts which quite happily fit and do not encroach into the dovetail. only time will tell as to the long term success of the project ( next project is to make a mounting to to fit the "tee" slots which will take my QCTP).
I have spent the day making a tangential tool holder and I have been suitably impressed with the results, a definite improvement in cut capacity and quality of finish, notwithstanding negating the need for tool post manipulation between facing and radial cuts.

Ken,
looking at the spec of the WM18 I suspect you may well be right, as I see it the only minor differences lie in the basic table size and swings and roundabouts on range of movement. One basic difference is the price! £785 plus £55 delivery as against £1250. but as usual you pays your money..... etc.
From my comments above I think you will quite rightly gather that I am really pleased with this machine. I have had to manufacture a suitable plate spanner for the ER32 collet chuck I purchased with the machine and on reflection I think that a smaller machine vice ( the one that I purchased with the machine is Huge! and solid) will enable a greater flexibility in machine operation but apart from that all is well. Having so said I am still exploring basic techniques and "set ups" will be another story which I am much looking forward to.
 
Nice addition Terry!

That you mentioned Leytonstone piqued my interest as that was where I grew up and my parents escaped from about 2 years ago. I googled the firm and it turns out they are situated just the other side of the railway viaduct from one of my old schools. I have been nosing around ME eqpt suppliers for a couple of years now and this is the first time I've heard of them.

Would you recommend them?

Al
 
Hi Al
I bought my lathe from Hugh some two years ago and have bought several accessories (4 jaw chuck, replacement hi/lo gear that I inadvertently destroyed and some odd collets ) and have experienced nothing but premium service. delivery by return of post (2 days in the case of the lathe, although he does offer next day service at a small price surcharge.
As previously mentioned my mill was delivered as promised on time and I must add the carrier went out of his way to unload said mill "inside my work shop" with judicious us of his fork truck.
I can say that to date I personally cannot find fault!

 
Terry,

A very nice idea and one into my roundtuit file. Thanks for sharing. :bow: :bow:

Best Regards
Bob
 
Hi Bob,
thanks for your interest,as I said above only time will tell how successful it will be but nothing ventured nothing gained!
I am operating mostly using an "Empirical Model" (suck it and see) and a very much seat of the pants approach! Tooling such as the tangential tool-holder did not exist in my youth so it was a pleasant surprise to find after a little experimentation that this little addition to my tooling has proved to be a panacea for many of the niggly finish/ cutting capacity difficulties that I have put up with for the past couple of years.
I attach a pic of the said tool-holder and a general shot of my shop
regards Terry

shop gen.JPG


tangential toolholder.JPG
 
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